Sean: A Stepbrother Romance (Coded for Love 3)

“Nan told you, didn’t she? And you lied for her.”

“No, she didn’t tell me. I guessed as soon as I saw her for the first time.”

Red patches appeared high on her cheekbones.

“One look at her, Rowan. It’s obvious.”

“Why didn’t you say you knew, instead of making a fool out of me?” She glared at him, clearly upset.

“I was walking on eggshells with you, waiting for you to tell me when you were ready. And I didn’t make a fool out of you.”

Grumbling, she plucked at the neckline on her top. “I wish you’d told me you’d worked it out, instead of putting me through all this.”

“I didn’t know my attempts to be patient and sensitive would make it harder on you!”

Her jaw dropped. “Of course it made it harder. I didn’t know how to tell you, for fuck’s sake.”

Determined to break the mood, he lifted his eyebrows in faux chastisement. “Language, Rowan.”

Her shoulders slumped and she gave a reluctant laugh. “You do a fair impression of Nan.”

“I’ll do it more often if it makes you smile for me.”

She stared at him with a bewildered expression. “You’re angry with me…”

“Not as angry as you are with me.”

“Well, what do you expect?”

“Nothing less.”

She threw him a rueful glance. “I couldn’t tell you before, and then it got harder and harder.” She sighed heavily and stared at the floor for a long moment. “When you turned up, I felt so much…confusion. Then we spent the night together and it felt more awkward than I ever could have imagined when you were there in the kitchen playing with her.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t handle it differently, ask you outright, but I figured you hadn’t told me, and I should wait until you did. Were you ever going to get around to it?”

“I was warming up to it.”

Sean laughed, a lot, he couldn’t help it. “Warming up to it? Jeez, a good thing I wasn’t holding my breath.”

“I hate you.” A smile played around her lush mouth.

“No, you don’t.” He managed to stop chuckling, and moved closer, taking her hand in his. It was finally time to close the space between them without the risk of losing an eye. “You only think you do. Deep inside you feel the way I do. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t get this upset about it.”

She put the flat of her hand against his chest and there was mischief in her eyes. “That’s great reasoning, it means you’re always covered and however I react you can ignore it.”

“Pretty much.” Cupping her upturned face between his hands, he looked deep into her eyes. “You done complaining?”

Her attention went to his mouth. “For now.”

“Good. In that case, I’ll kiss you while you catch breath.”

She thumped her fist against his shoulder.

When his mouth covered hers and he began to kiss her, long and hard, her hands moved, sliding up around the back of his neck. He eased closer, absorbing her softness n every way. Her lips parted under his and she moaned softly as she let him in.

When they eventually pulled apart, she smiled up at him.

“We made a baby,” he whispered, holding her tight.